“They have also indicated that their intention is to treat any EU support that might be made available as precautionary,” the European Commission said in a statement, adding that it would consider Hungary’s request in consultation with EU member states and the IMF.

Hungary said on Friday it had started talks with the International Monetary Fund and the EU about a new precautionary credit line to shield it from the debt crisis in the euro zone. Its Economy Ministry said at the time it expected to sign a new agreement with the IMF and the European Union early next year, but it did not expect the deal to entail new austerity measures.

IMF chief Christine Lagarde confirmed the move today saying: “The IMF has received a request from the Hungarian authorities for possible financial assistance. The authorities have sent a similar request to the European Commission and indicated that they plan to treat as precautionary any IMF and EC support that could be made available.”

Ms Lagarde said an IMF team currently working in Budapest would now return to Washington for consultations with the IMF management and board.

Hungary’s total debt had risen to 82pc of gross domestic product by September from 75pc at the end of June, recent official figures showed.

The government has levied huge taxes on various sectors to fill budget deficits and effectively nationalised €11bn in assets held by private pension funds since coming to power in April last year.

The outlook for Hungary is clouded, Standard and Poor’s and Fitch have warned and analysts predict that Hungary will have the lowest growth rate among the 10 EU newcomers with 0.5pc growth predicted in 2012.

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